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Violence in Sports
pack the heat," Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel, February 24, 2002. For a perplexing contrast of the different sides to Jayson Williams, see "Two Sides of Ex-NBA Star Clash in Shooting Death," Michael Powell, Washington Post, March 1, 2002; Page A01.
Sports Ethics Questions
Factors contributing to the continued increase in violence in professional hockey include: (1) a proliferation of unskilled players who can't compete any other way, (2) the sensationalizing of brutality by the NHL and some television broadcasters and hockey teams, (3) the National Hockey League's tolerance and tacit promotion of violence by its refusal to impose sufficiently severe sanctions, and (4) the failure of hockey organizations to develop teams and playing conditions that would promote a sport more conducive to some of today's fast and highly skilled players.
Most people would agree that hockey players themselves are ultimately responsible for their violent behavior, but what about the moral culpability of teams, owners, the sports media industry, broadcasters, referees and the NHL?
Consider the following:
New York Daily News' Bob Raissman reports people "in the hockey business flat-out know violence and mayhem are not only a foundation of hockey culture, but a key part of the way the sport is currently marketed." He faults commentators who flip out over cheap and dangerous shots by some hockey players, but don't take a stand "on the root causes of what they see as a problem." He points to a currently airing NHL commercial showing a series of violent collisions on ice. Apparently, he says, the NHL believes this is the part of the game worth promoting. See "Face It, NHL Sells Violence," Bob Raissman, New York Daily News, April 30, 2002.
Sports columnist George Vecsey of The New York Times writes of the "current mess of real hockey players maiming other real hockey players" and warns, "The league cannot afford this carnage." In recent match-ups, two extremely valuable players were taken out of their games with concussions from hits that, he says, "would not be tolerated on the sidewalks outside those arenas." Describing the hitters' assassin-like mentality, Vecsey notes, "And make no mistake about it — they were injured because of their value."
As to hockey fan violence, he says the teams themselves use violence to incite the crowd. He cites the underlying message in a video one team recently ran during a game showing fans harassing a "goofy-looking actor" wearing the opposing team jersey was clearly: It's "open season" on anyone wearing the other team's gear. See "N.H.L. Needs Long Suspensions Now," George Vecsey, The New York Times, April 28, 2002.
Sports columnist Dan Daly of The Washington Times scoffs at weak sanctions the NHL levies against players who literally and intentionally target their opponents' hottest scorer, but he says that's not the only problem: Players skate faster than ever, which makes the ice surface smaller than ever, which leads to more collisions — and more injurious hits — than ever. He thinks the solution is to increase the size of the rink. See "During playoffs, NHL means Neanderthals [next page]